Do we care or not?
May 16, 2005
By Cam Tait
How would you feel if you were a client of a nonprofit agency and you knew that the board of directors was split into two opposing factions, and that any day now, one side of the board was going to gang up on the other? You know very well that there will be a new administration, but you want to close your eyes and look the other way. Does it make you nervous? Are you worried about what will happen to the services you are currently receiving? Do you even care?
On the other hand, how would you feel if the charity you support the most was in a similar situation? That the current board was very fragile and that a motion was afoot to overturn it? Would you still contribute? Would you be angry about how unstable people in authority seem to be? Or, would you even care?
Forgive me if you think this is stretching the point a little too far, but please bear with me for a few more paragraphs. The current unrest within the federal government is giving pundits all kinds of stuff to talk about. In the news business, we cynically call it a deathwatch: whenever someone well-known isn't well and is near the end of his or her time on earth, we make calls - sometimes hourly - to see if there's any news. Sounds morbid, I know, but that's the way things go.
So we're keeping an eye on Parliament Hill to see if the opposition is going to topple the government in a non-confidence motion. Too bad, when you consider there are many more pressing matters our government could be working on. But I digress.
Our governments are supposed to protect us, guide us, even comfort us. They're supposed to pave the way for a bright future for us. I think we can draw a fairly straight parallel between what our government does for us and what a charity does for us - both as clients and as supporters.
If you're still with me, thank you. I'll try to nail my point home now.
There are always going to be egos and agendas, whether it's at the federal government level or at the charity down the street. And there probably always will be until the end of time.
But this current federal fiasco - and I consider it to be a great fiasco - can teach us something. We can get so caught up with what we want and how we want things to be that we forget the betterment of the cause. Maybe we should all have a look in the mirror, check our egos at the door, and do what's best for all parties involved.
There's so much more news - news that should be celebrated, and news that celebrates people - but it's being taken off the pages and replaced by a deathwatch on a government in turmoil. As a Canadian citizen, it worries me. As a taxpayer, I want some of my money back. But that will never happen. Once you've made a contribution, you never get it back.
Maybe I'm completely off my rocker. Maybe it's time for a vacation from the news, and everything that goes with it. Maybe it's time for the men in white to finally take me away. I can't help but wonder, though. If our government can be on such shaky ground, how many charities might be in the same situation?
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
Opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CharityVillage.com®.
